Same Way (Same #4)

Chapter One

Lyric Howell couldn’t stop her heart from racing.

It wasn’t because of the crowd, or the close proximity of the two human males on either side of her at the bar, their elbows almost touching hers.

It wasn’t because of the loud music that hurt her oversensitive ears, or the chaotic hum of conversation and unsavory scents around her that overwhelmed her senses.

Her heart raced because a werewolf had just walked in, and from the way he kept looking at her, he recognized her from that awful day—the day of the Pack wars.

This werewolf was an enemy.

He had walked into the bar and lifted his chin higher into the air, scented the air and his eyes had zeroed directly onto her.

He was one of the Rogues.

Her hands were shaking, so she clenched them twice to steady them.

She looked down, focused intentionally on the iced tea she spun slowly on her soggy coaster. She’d been here all evening nursing this drink, and the ice had almost melted.

Lyric dared a glance back up at the werewolf, but he had moved to an empty table across the room. He sat down, facing her, eyes unblinking on her.

Shoot.

She should leave. She should go back to the safety of her Pack. Her Pack? Were they hers? She felt like she didn’t belong anywhere anymore. Not after the war.

Her life felt like it was over. Like it was something outside of her body that she didn’t understand or connect with anymore.

She could smell the werewolf now. Her sister, Eden, had been talking about chasing the Rogues out of Coeur d’Alene, but her Pack didn’t have the numbers yet.

The Rogue Pack was wholly made up of monsters.

Lyric had Turned one of them and given them another weapon.

A flashback of her Turning Destiny had her wincing and closing her eyes to ward off the memory. She’d always hated her job.

When she opened her eyes again, and turned to look at the werewolf, he was standing right behind her. She gasped and startled hard.

“I know you,” he said.

His eyes looked strange. They were dark brown, but the very edges and right by his pupil were bright gold. He had a chiseled jawline, and tan skin. He wore a black T-shirt, and his right arm had tribal looking tattoos all the way down it. He smelled like cologne, dominance, and fur.

“No, you don’t know me,” she uttered low. “Go away.”

The werewolf canted his head and narrowed his eyes, then looked at the human beside her. “Move,” he said blandly.

The guy nodded, said, “Yep,” and then vamoosed.

Shit.

The werewolf sat next to her and nodded to the bartender. “I’ll have whatever she’s having.”

“An iced tea?” the bartender asked. “Really? Two of you?”

“Oh, hell no. Long island iced tea. Thanks.” He turned to Lyric. “Are you sober or something?”

“Ummm, or something. Alcohol doesn’t help me when I’m…” She frowned and swallowed the rest of her words. “I should go.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re my enemy.”

The man frowned. “Do I scare you?”

“Nothing scares me.”

“Lie. I can hear it. Want to try that again?”

“I don’t have to answer your stupid questions. I came here for a night away from you fuckin’ werewolves.” She stood and pulled her wallet out of her purse to pay, but the man yanked her purse off her arm and slammed it onto the counter, then jammed his finger at the stool. “Sit.”

The command in his voice did something horrible to her. Oh, he was dominant. Her stupid body obeyed him, and she sat back down.

“Is this guy bothering you?” the human on her other side asked.

“Yes.”

“And what the fuck are you going to do about it?” the werewolf snarled at him.

The human muttered, “Nothing,” and got up and made his way to the empty table across the room.

She inhaled deeply and clenched her hands on her thighs. She needed to text her Pack for some backup.

“Are you scared of me?” he asked again.

“I’m scared of all the Rogue Pack. I’ve seen what you all can do.” She leveled him with a look. “You killed my father after all.”

The harshness faded from his face, and he dropped his gaze. “Fuck. Which one was your father?”

“Aro.” She winced at the lie even she could hear in her voice.

“Why would you lie about that,” he asked softly. “He was pretty evil from what I knew of him.”

She inhaled deeply. “I thought he was my father. Turns out he wasn’t after all.”

She could feel the man staring at her, but she kept her eyes trained forward.

“Did you pledge to the Coeur d’Alene Lake Pack?” he asked softly.

“Yes.”

He nodded and slid a menu over to her. “I’m getting appetizers before my meeting. What do you want?”

She tossed him a confused look. “I’m not eating with you.”

“Suit yourself. You can watch me eat.”

“What is with you? I’m not your friend.”

“Why not?”

“Because we are from rival Packs—”

“You’re Destiny’s Maker, aren’t you?” he asked.

“How do you know?” she asked, eyes on her iced tea.

“The eyes.” He gestured to Lyric’s face. “Destiny has one green, one brown. My Maker gave me his eyes too. Straight gold. I look like a psycho when my wolf is riled up.”

“Shhh,” she hushed him, looking around. “I’m not trying to announce what I am.” She clenched her jaw and forced herself to relax back onto her stool. “You aren’t a natural born werewolf then?”

The man shook his head slowly and then thanked the bartender, who set a drink in front of him. The werewolf tinked his glass against hers and then took a sip. “Oh hell, I haven’t had one of these since my early twenties. I forgot how gross they are.”

She snorted. “You’re the idiot who ordered it.”

“I don’t know. I panic-ordered.”

They were quiet for a minute and her mind raced. She swallowed hard. “How is Destiny?” she asked, trying for nonchalance.

“She searches for you.”

“Shhhit,” she drawled out. “I tried to stop that, just so you know. I had her fight me as she was Turned so there wouldn’t be a Maker Bond.”

“Doesn’t work like that,” the werewolf said.

She snorted and tossed him a look. “It works exactly like that. I’ve Turned dozens of wolves. I kill the bonds before they begin.” She thought about Destiny and her ex, Cian. “Well, I kill the bonds most of the time.”

The man’s eyebrows arched up. “Why would you Turn people?” he sounded horrified.

“Because that’s my job. I’m the Turner. It’s what the Elders call me. Or it was my job. It’s what I was Turned for.” She hated the judgement in his face, so she pushed back and grabbed her purse. “It’s been real. Enjoy your piss in a glass.”

“My name is Vic.”

She paused, confused. “You’re the gray and tan wolf. You helped clean up the bodies of my people.”

He took another sip. “And tonight we aren’t enemies.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m not interested in a war with you. Tonight, we are just the only werewolves in this place. Only I’m hiding it better.”

He gestured to her eyes, and she ducked her gaze. Her green eye would be blazing bright right now. She fumbled in her purse for a pair of sunglasses, but he brushed her off. “You’re good.”

“Says you, who got lucky with dark eyes.”

Vic snorted. “Nothing lucky about it. I wear colored contacts when I want to fit in. My co-workers haven’t even caught on that I’m a werewolf.”

She stared at him in bafflement. “Wh-what?”

“I wear contacts,” he repeated. “They don’t have any magnification. They’re just for color.”

And now it made sense. She could barely see the glow of his gold eyes around the dark color of the contact lenses. Huh.

“And where would one get these contacts?” she asked, relaxing into the barstool again.

He shrugged. “I can give you a couple pairs. I buy them in bulk.”

“Wait, does that mean you hang out with humans?” she asked, suspicious of him.

“I hang out around whatever calls to me. Human world or werewolf world, doesn’t matter to me anymore. I have a set number of days on this earth. I’m going to have fun. Yolo and all.”

“Yolo?” she asked.

“You only live once.” He gestured to her drink again. “Why are you at a bar with humans, judging me for spending time in the human world, while you drink an iced tea? Are you here picking up dudes?”

Lyric crossed her arms over her chest. “Maybe. What’s it to you?”

“Nothing. I’m here picking up women. No judgement from me.”

“Oh.” Well, this guy—Vic—he was honest. She liked that.

“Is Vic short for Victor?” she asked.

“It’s short for Vicious,” he said absently as he looked around. “That guy over there isn’t half-bad.” He twitched his chin toward a trio of men at a table near the pool table.

“For me? They’re human.”

“Well, it’s a human bar. You picked a strange hunting ground if you don’t like humans.”

“I’m not here hunting dick.”

He grinned, and the gold outer edges of his eyes flashed brighter. “Foul mouth on you. I like it. Fine, if you aren’t here for dudes, pick a girl for me.”

She let her gaze linger on him for a few seconds to gauge his seriousness before she looked around. There were actually a lot of pretty women in here if he was into humans.

“Hair color preference?” she asked.

“You never introduced yourself.”

“Oh. I’m Lyric.”

“Cool name.”

“So is Vicious, but you went and shortened it and took the coolness from it.”

He chuckled. “My mom shortened it. She didn’t like the long version.”

“Then why did she name you that?”

“She didn’t. My dad did. He badgered her until she gave in.”

“Human parents naming you Vicious. That’s a werewolf name for sure. It’s like they set you up to be Turned.”

“Yeah, they kind of did. It was my dad’s best friend who Turned me.”

“Holy shit,” she muttered. “Why would he do that?”

Vic leaned on his elbow and stared straight into her soul. “Do you want to come to bingo with me?”

“Bingo?”

“Yeah. They have it in the back room. It’s a bunch of old people mostly, but they do a bake sale that’s pretty cool, and you can win twenty bucks a card.”

“You…” She frowned, trying to keep up with this turn in conversation. “You have a meeting here and it’s just bingo with a bunch of old ladies?”

“Old people. Male humans play it too. Sexism isn’t attractive on anyone.”

She snorted at his teasing. This guy was so out of the blue. “I guess I could play bingo, but I thought you were here to pick up women?”

“You’re a female werewolf. You’ll do.”

“Oh, but I’m not looking for anything romantic.”

“I didn’t come here for that.”

“Well, I’m not looking to fuck.”

A smile cracked his handsome face, and he nodded. “Accepted. How about we just have a fun night, and tomorrow, I can bring you some of these contacts, and we can call it friendship.”

“Friendship,” she said, testing out the word. “But we’re from rival Packs.”

“Your Pack was annihilated, and rumor has it y’all are limping in your numbers. I think you won’t be able to attack us for a year or more, and who knows. By that time, the urge for revenge may ease up. Maybe we aren’t destined to be enemies, Lyric.”

“My sister is paired up with the Alpha of the new Pack now.”

“And your sister is Aro’s other daughter?”

She nodded.

“Is she a real daughter?”

Lyric pursed her lips and nodded again.

“So not your real sister. Not by blood.”

And this…this was why she was here tonight looking for a break from her whole damn life.

She sighed. “I’m getting tired.”

“One game of bingo with me and I’ll give you three pairs of contacts, and teach you how to put them in.” He offered his hand for a shake. “Deal?”

“And you won’t want anything more from me? You won’t touch me or get dominant, or act like you own me?”

“It’s like you’ve been around male werewolves before,” he said with a crooked, knowing smile.

“Yeah, they’re all assholes.”

“Fair point. I’m for sure an asshole. My Alpha calls me that at least three times a week. So does the Second of our Pack too,” he admitted, frowning.

A giggle escaped her, and the sound startled her. God, it had been so long since she laughed. She almost didn’t recognize it.

Okay. She had come in here to drown her sorrows and quickly got nervous of drinking alone with so many males in here. And here was this person who was like her, but not in her Pack. Who was interesting and seemed fun. He could be a distraction from what she’d learned about her family.

She rolled her eyes heavenward. “I like fruity ciders.”

The grin that stretched across his masculine lips made her heart stutter. He was really very handsome. Now that she was looking at how easily he smiled, and the way the corners of his eyes crinkled up so naturally, like he smiled a lot, she liked his face even more.

He was easily the hottest guy in here, by a lot.

So, okay. She could sneak in some hot friend time tonight and no one in her Pack would be the wiser. They would never set foot in a human bar. She was oddly safe here.

Vic ordered her a marionberry cider from a local brewery, and it came in a glass bottle with a frosted cold glass on the side. She poured it herself while he paid for their drinks, and then he stood, and waited for her to gather her purse.

He didn’t try to touch her, which she appreciated. He just led her to a back room, and then to a sign-in table where he paid for them each a booklet of bingo cards. She picked a hot pink dauber with sparkles in the ink, and he picked dark blue.

The number caller was already in full swing, and there were six long tables lined up. Almost all of them were full, and off to the side was a long table with an assortment of baked goods, and a couple of ladies manning the cash box.

He led her to the bake sale table first and one of the ladies greeted him. “Vic! Good to see you again, young man. Did you bring Earl this week?”

“Not this week.”

“Whose Earl?” Lyric asked.

“My little hairy son,” he answered.

“He has the cutest hamster in the world.”

“He’s my good luck charm,” Vic explained to Lyric. “And Denise here is nice enough to let me bring him in each week. She’s the one who organizes this party.”

“Yes, well all the proceeds go toward paying for teachers for our aquatic classes at the community center each Monday. We can put the classes on for free as long as we make enough on Bingo cards each week. Vic here has done the class twice.”

Lyric could not stop smiling at the vision of him in swim trunks swimming with all these humans. And a hamster? Named Earl? Who was this guy?

“I set aside an entire pan of brownies for you,” Denise said, pulling a container out from under the table.

“You are an angel come to earth,” Vic assured her, and Lyric just watched them talking and joking as he paid. He made Denise happy. She could tell. It had been a long time since she’d seen anyone smile this much.

Lyric looked around the room, and people were talking and giggling and marking off bingo numbers.

And here she stood in a surprise moment, holding a booklet of bingo cards some nice werewolf had bought her, and a cider, and for the last five minutes, she hadn’t thought about what had happened to her at all.

For the first time in a long time, she could breathe.

She didn’t know what kind of magic Vic possessed, but she liked him.